New table saw in the woodshop

@Team_Woodshop
I just found a used 5hp 3ph powermatic pm66 online for over $1000 less than the new version. The PM66 is one of the top three table saws preffered by most every woodworker I have ever asked and one of the longest lasting that I know of. Another plus is that we can have it at the space as soon as we can arrange transportation, whereas the new one won’t even ship till mid December. Are there any objestions to this? I will go look at it tomorrow morning and post better pics than are in the ad.

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Is the sliding table saw a viable option instead?

No objections from me, especially since we’ll be losing the delta

Delta is gone :wink:

No objections but some things I do notice.

PM66 dont have a riving knife (do they?), we will need an aftermarket one.
Pictures of the shop make me think it was well used but not well loved.

Would it be worth having the company coming to do the repairs on our shop take a look at it? Impartial eyes and I assume has seen some well used tables.

I have owned and used a sliding saw. They are great … just not sure it’s a good fit for the wide variation in skill sets of users at the Space. Misusing and breaking a conventional tablesaw is one thing. Fixing a broken slider is way more expensive.

Plus sliders are frequently larger blades and not viable machines for dado sets. One objective as I understand it is to have a second saw that can easily accept dado blades since that is a special challenge on the SawStop.

If I were making the decision, I’d go with a traditional saw such as a PM66 and add a quality panel saw for breaking down sheet goods. Suspect both can be had for less than the slider in the Craigs ad. And both are friendlier for novice woodworkers who make up a fair portion of the local users … at least from my casual observations.

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I would vote for a new PM66 just for the warranty. Knowing what we are and how things go, I figure it would pay for itself and be cheap insurance.

Yes. It’s a powermatic.

The delta was finally picked up?

As of yesterday it was not present

Mark, couldn’t you have also said “over $2000 less than the new version”? It’s my understanding that a new 5hp PM saw would be almost $4000. The PM66 is an outstanding saw and would be a good fit at DMS.

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Ask about the two missing covers.

I thought a panel saw was in the works with Laser? Slept since I saw this and I’m on mobile so finding it isn’t going to happen today.

The pm66 is no longer made. It’s from the days when powermatic was made in America. The pm2000b would be the newer model, and is regularly about $2000 more than the pm66 is listed for. With the black friday sale, we would get 10% off the price and free shipping, which would save us almost $1000 off the total price. The main benefit of buying an older, American made saw (besides durability) is that we wouldn’t need a warranty. The machine is very easy to understand and to work on. This is a straight electric machine, with little to no electronics other than the rfid reader we would install. If it doesn’t have all the pieces, we won’t be buying it, as it would take longer to get it running than the expected mid-December delivery date of the new model. Powermatic and jet are made by the same company and both are on back order until then. My apologies, but when I posted this yesterday, it slipped my mind that today was thanksgiving. I will be going to look at the used machines tomorrow before I hit the black Friday sales. I will post new pictures and updates then. The warranty on the new model is 5 years from the manufacturer, and many woodshop users already know about the nightmare that is china based powermatic customer service and warranty repair. Many pm66’s have been used since they were built and are still in service in professional shops all over. Closest one to the space that I can think of is at Central Hardwoods in their cabinet shop in the back. I think we would be lucky to get 5 years use out of the new model before service is required beyond the scope of the average volunteer at the space. I would personally like to see an older, heavier, more reliable/repairable piece of machinery in the shop that will stand the heavy use and/or abuse that we put them through. Just like cars, the newer models are built as light and cheap as the manufacturer can get away with and with a lot more electronics than it needs to do the job it was intended for.

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That’s my understanding as well, but will happen during/after expansion. This thread is about replacing the Delta with another “workhorse” table saw to supplement the sawstop.

Mark, thank you for the education! Based on this the used PM66 makes a million times more sense! I’m with you on a more reliable/repairable piece of machinery. I think we both want the same thing! Consider me a convert!

Thanks

Freddy

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Why is a dado stack difficult to use with the sawstop? Due to the brake?

Thanks for the update. I updated the tools list on the wiki to reflect this.

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Here is the saw we are getting.
The table needs leveling and we need to add a splitter, both minor issues. Baldour 5hp 3ph motor. We even get a converter box to switch it to 110v single phase so we can run it anywhere. I looked over the whole saw and watched it run.

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Please let me know when it’s operational and if you’d like, I’ll add it to the wiki tools listing.

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